Ovid 7

Question 1

militat omnis amans….militat omnis amans

Answer 1

every lover is a soldier…every lover is a soldier

the repetition and allitereation of ‘m’ reenforces ovids point that every lover is a soldier

Question 2

Attice

Answer 2

reference to Atticus

It is an unusual feature in ovid to have an addressee, but here, it provides the illusion of conversation at the start of what is rather rhetorical set-piece. The first couplet is well balanced with the opening proverb repeated at the end

Question 3

quae bello est habilis, Veneri quoque convenit aetas

Answer 3

The time of life which is appropriate for war is suitable also for love

Personification of love and the use of a balanced line war:love

Question 4

turpe senex miles, turpe senilis amor

Answer 4

an elderly soldier is a shameful thing so is an elderly lover

balanced line

Question 5

Quos petiere duces annos in milite forti, hos petit in socio bella puella viro

Answer 5

The age which generals require in a brave soldier the beautiful girl requires in the man at her side

Question 6

militat… castra… bello… miles… duces… socio… petit

Answer 6

soldier… camp… war… soldiers… generals… requires

military vocabulary

Question 7

habilis… turpe

Answer 7

suitable… shameful

contrast

Question 8

previgilant ambo

Answer 8

both watch through the night

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 9

terra resquiescit uterque

Answer 9

each takes his rest on the ground

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 10

ille fores dominae servat at ille ducis

Answer 10

one guards his mistress’s doors the other his generals

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 11

militis officium longa est via: mitte puellam strenuus exempto fine sequetur amans

Answer 11

long marches are the duty of the soldier; send ahead his girl and the tireless lover will follow unceasingly

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 12

ibit in adversos montes

Answer 12

he will face mountains in his path

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 13

duplicataque nimbo flumina

Answer 13

and rivers swollen by the rains

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 14

congestas exteret ille nives

Answer 14

he will tread his way through snow piled high

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 15

nec freta pressurus tumidos causabitur Euros aptave verrendis sidera quaeret aquis

Answer 15

and when about to ply the seas he will not plead as an excuse the raging east winds or wait for stars suitable for sweeping the waters

similarity between lover and a soldier

Question 16

quis nisi vel miles vel amans et frigora noctis et denso mixtas pereret imbre nives?

Answer 16

Who but a soldier or a lover will endure the frosts of the night and snow alternating with pouring rain

Ovid brings loves and soldier together again- they will do exactly the same things

Question 17

mittitur infestos alter speculator in hostes in rivale oculos alter ut hoste tenet.

Answer 17

The one is sent against the dangerous foe as a spy; the other keeps his eyes upon his rival as his foe

Question 18

ille graves urbes, hic durae limen amicae obsidet

Answer 18

one besieges mighty cities, the other a cruel girlfriend’s threashold

Question 19

hic portas fragit at ille fores

Answer 19

one breaks down gates the other doors

Question 20

sopratos invadere hostes… maritorum somnis utuntur

Answer 20

attack the sleeping enemy… make use of the slumbers of husbands

Question 21

sic fera Threicii ceciderunt agmina Rhesi et dominum capti deseruistis equi

Answer 21

Thracian Rhesus fell and you captured horses, deserted your master

Refers to illiad in Homer the horses of Achillies are also adressed this way

Question 22

arma movere

Answer 22

to take up arms

in love poetry this could be an euphemism for making love

Question 23

mars dubius, nec certa Venus

Answer 23

Mars is uncertain and Venus unpredictable

Ultimately the God of both love and war are playing a similar role according to ovid. Returns to his theme in poem 1- everybody is vunerable in war, everybody is vunerable in love

Question 24

numquam posse iacere, cadunt

Answer 24

could never be brought down, fall

the greatest heros can fall= love can effect anybody

Question 25

ergo desidiam quicum que vocabat amorem desinat

Answer 25

So whoever used to call love idleness, let him cease

Ovid addresses the criticism that the life of a lover is ‘soft’ and lazy s opposed to the ‘hard’ life of a soldier

Question 26

Achilles

Answer 26

He took Briseis as his war prize and desperatley in love with her

Example from mythology of lover= soldier

Question 27

Hector

Answer 27

Trojan hero- touching scene with his wife Andromache before battle with achilles she put his helmate on him

Example from mythology of lover= soldier

Question 28

Atrides

Answer 28

Refference to Agamemnon taking Cassandra home as war prize then his wife kills him

Question 29

Mars

Answer 29

Refference to Vulcan catching his wife Venus sleeping with Mars

Example from mythology of lover= soldier
Even Gods

Question 30

ispe ego segnis eram discinctaque in otia natus

Answer 30

I myself was lazy and born for loose-clad lesiure

‘segnis’- lazy- Ovid claims that this is the perfect life for him in contrast to his claims in poem 1 that he wasn’t in love and had no material for love poetry
‘discinctus’- loose (playfully used here for the word often means ‘ungirdled’ as of a woman’s garment) ref to Corinna in poem 4

Question 31

mollierant

Answer 31

had softened

mollis is another uncomplimentary term

Question 32

in castris aera merere suis

Answer 32

enlist in her camp

Girlfriend is like a general

Question 33

nocturna bella gerentem

Answer 33

waging wars by night

lovers sleeping together- Ovid uses military language as a pun on his battles and the energy he spends at night

Question 34

amet (line 46)

Answer 34

let him love

The first word of the poem is militat meaning the act of a soldier and the last word is amet meaning let him love. Therefore Ovid has used ring composition